Meet Hilary Lister...

Hilary Lister was the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain in addition to sailing into the record books when she completed a solo English Channel crossing - amazing when you consider she is only able to move her head and sails using three straws to control her boat.

Now Hilary continues her sailing adventures as an ambassador for Oman Sail, taking groups out sailing on her boat Me Too so they can get a feel for what it is possible to achieve.

Hilary's current project is to sail from Mumbai to Muscat with an Omani woman, Nashwa al Kindi.

She can control everything on board by operating three straws. If Hilary sips the tiller straw, the tiller drive turns the boat starboard and a puff turns the boat to port. The second straw acts as a menu switch, allowing the choice of which motor to operate or whether to use autopilot. The third straw activates whichever menu item has been chosen.

In addition to these three straws, Hilary can now use her smart phone with the help of the Raymarine Apps, through which she can control and operate her e9 multifunction display; looking at data from all her instruments, as well as being able to perform simple functions like zooming in and out and identifying objects on the chart.